Too Much Tau Over Relaxes Chromatin in Neurons in Aging and Alzheimer’s BrainsFebruary 3, 2019Taking a break can be a great thing for our aging brains, it gives us a chance to unwind and open ourselves up to new ideas. However, it’s possible to have too much of a good thing, where overly relaxed chromatin can wreak havoc on an aging neuron and drive pathological changes! One of the […]
Perturb-ATAC: Single-Cell Multiplex CRISPR Screening of Chromatin Regulatory NetworksJanuary 30, 2019Feeling perturbed by the limitations of current chromatin assays? Looking for something high throughput that combines multiplexed genome editing with single cell resolution of open chromatin? Well look no further than Perturb-ATAC. The lab of Paul Khavari (Stanford, California) sought to address the above challenges with simultaneous measurements of perturbations and chromatin state in single […]
LncRNA-mediated Trisomy Silencing: Is the Reversal of Down Syndrome-associated Disease Just an Epigenetic Switch Away?January 24, 2019While “the rule of three” principle may make three the magic number for fairy tales and Hollywood blockbusters, trisomy of chromosome 21 causes Down syndrome (DS) and leads to the development of a range of severe associated disease and disorders in affected patients. However, research out of the laboratory of Jeanne B. Lawrence (University of […]
Teasing Apart the Brain: DNA Methylation Maps of Healthy Neurons Implicate Brain Region Differences in Psychiatric DisordersJanuary 24, 2019While conducting epigenomics research, we are often faced with a number of brain teasers. To solve these cognitive conundrums, many of us turn to diseases and disorders to learn about healthy conditions. However, the methylation maestros in the labs of Andrew Feinberg and Kasper Hansen at John Hopkins University (Maryland, USA) now demonstrate the utility of […]
Monkey Memes: Social Status Epigenetically Primes a Stress-Responsive Chromatin ProfileJanuary 15, 2019Are you constantly checking your Twitter/Instagram/Reddit feeds for the newest memes and best cat videos to share for the most likes? Well, don’t spend too much time stressing over your social media status; especially if you are a rhesus macaque, because new research suggests your immune cells might take a major epigenetic hit if you’re […]
Of Rats and Men: Prospective Fathers Should Pass on Cannabis to Preserve Sperm DNA MethylationJanuary 15, 2019While most of the focus on developmental epigenomics puts mom in the spotlight, a recent surge in sperm studies are showing that dad’s dreams of a care-free lifestyle are up in smoke. We’ve already seen that a high-fat diet can alter the sperm epigenome, and now a factor that may encourage such half-baked decisions takes the […]
Colorectal Cancer Cells Single in on an ‘Omics’ Bundle UpgradeJanuary 14, 2019It often seems the best deals come in bundles. Bundle your internet, phone service, and cable package and those long hours in the lab become a bit less tempting. But now there’s a new sequencing bundle that will make you never want to leave the lab. scTrio-seq2 is a single-cell multiomic bundling that meets your […]
Know Your Enemy: Understanding Malaria Infection via Epigenome EditingJanuary 11, 2019Sun Tzu’s ancient Chinese military treatise “The Art of War” placed knowing your enemy on a par with knowing yourself when facing battle. These wise words still resound today in the lab of Lubin Jiang (Institut Pasteur of Shanghai, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PR China) where researchers have employed CRISPR/Cas9 epigenome editing to forge a […]
Embryo Survival Provides a New Path towards DNA Methylation Signatures of Prenatal AdversityJanuary 3, 2019While some research takes us down well-worn paths, some scientists like to dust off their hiking shoes and take the road less traveled! This includes researchers led by Bastiaan Heijmans (Leiden University Medical Center, The Netherlands), Tobias Uller (Lund University, Sweden), and L.H. Lumey (Columbia University Medical Center, New York, USA), whose collaborative work aims […]
Tune in to Genetically and Environmentally Tunable Polymorphic Imprinting with nc886December 10, 2018While tuning into signals is the name of the game for (epi)genomics, an exciting new study now suggests that genetic and environmental factors can tune our epigenomes by polymorphic genomic imprinting. Unlike other imprinted genes that always display monoallelic methylation, the nc886 DMR is polymorphic and imprinted in only ~75% of people. New research into this […]